Ron DeSantis intensified his attacks on Randy Fine Wednesday, blaming the representative-elect’s “unique problems” for a thin special election victory in a district known as a Republican stronghold.
The Trump-endorsed candidate won Tuesday night’s special election to take over former Congressman Mike Waltz’s seat by 14 points, the slimmest margin of victory for a Republican in the district since 2018.
DeSantis, who had already been criticizing Fine’s ability to pull out a victory, called the representative-elect a “squish” who Republican voters didn’t even want to cast their ballots for Tuesday night.
“The president really had to bail him out at the end because this race would have been much closer had the president sat on the sidelines,” DeSantis said. “I think these were voters who didn’t like Randy Fine but who basically were like, ‘You know what? We’re going to take one for the team.'”
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The governor also challenged media reports characterizing the close race as a reflection of President Donald Trump’s agenda.
“I don’t think that’s true at all for this district,” DeSantis said at the press conference. “I think you have a candidate in Randy Fine, who, one, he’s a squish.”
DeSantis added that Fine “repels” people, including his former colleagues in the state legislature. During the press conference Wednesday, the governor recounted how lawmakers in the state requested he nominate Fine to be the president of Florida Atlantic University so he would not have to serve in the legislature anymore.
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“I did, and the whole board [at Florida Atlantic] would have resigned rather than make him president,” DeSantis said.
DeSantis and Fine have had a contentious relationship for some time, which can be traced back to at least 2023, when Fine was the first Florida Republican to switch his endorsement from DeSantis to Trump during the 2024 Republican presidential nomination battle. Fine articulated his decision to endorse Trump over DeSantis during the 2024 presidential primary in a subsequent op-ed that slammed the Florida governor for failing to tamp down antisemitism after Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attacks on innocent Israelis.
According to DeSantis, Fine has supported restrictions on the Second Amendment, tried to defeat his immigration proposal earlier this year aimed at boosting the enforcement of immigration laws and tried to enact a de facto sanctuary city policy.
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In response to DeSantis’ criticisms, Fine responded on X alongside video of the governor’s remarks at the press conference Wednesday.
“A dying star burns hottest before it fades into oblivion. I’m focused on working with President Donald Trump to stop Democrats from taking this country backwards, not working with them,” Fine wrote. “Let’s go.”
Allies of Fine have been unhappy about DeSantis’ public criticisms of the representative-elect, who will now add another crucial vote to the GOP’s narrow House majority that had dwindled as a result of several members going to work in the Trump administration.
“Ron and Casey DeSantis are disloyal and consistently put their agenda ahead of the president’s,” a national Republican operative in Trump’s orbit told Fox News Digital. “With the congressional majority on the line in their own backyard, Ron and Casey didn’t lift a finger to help President Trump’s endorsed candidates. Worse, Ron undermined President Trump, openly attacked his candidates leading up to the special election, which could have suppressed Republican turnout, and then crowed about it on Fox News.
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“DeSantis’ personal politics once again betrayed the Trump agenda and the MAGA movement.”
Gov. DeSantis’ office declined to provide comment for this article.
